Beer continues losing market share to wine: study

While Canadians continue to drink more beer than any other alcoholic beverage, a new Statistics Canada study says the appeal of wine is winning over our taste buds and wallets.

In 1997, beer accounted for 52 per cent of alcoholic beverage sales in Canada. Spirits accounted for 27 per cent of dollar sales, and wine 21 per cent.

In 2007, beer fell to 47 per cent of dollar sales. Spirits slipped to 25 per cent -- while wine jumped to 28 per cent of the market.

When it comes to volume, wine sales outpaced the growth of beer and spirit sales significantly between 2005/2006 and 2006/2007.

On a per capita basis, wine sales amounted to $187 in 2006/2007, up almost $14 from the previous year.

Wine, by far, was most popular with Quebec consumers, where per capita wine sales shot past the Canadian average by almost $83, accounting for 34 per cent of all wine sold in Canada in 2006/2007. Forty-two per cent of all red wine sold in Canada was also in Quebec.

Meanwhile, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick were the only two provinces to sell more white wines than red.

Overall, beer and liquor stores and agencies across Canada experienced the fastest rate of sales growth since 2003.

StatsCan says stores sold more than $18 billion worth of alcoholic beverages during the fiscal year, ending March 31, 2007. That accounts for 4.9 per cent more than the year before.

The rise partly reflects a 1.4 per cent increase in the population aged 15 and over, as well as a 0.9 per cent average increase in alcoholic beverage prices.

When it comes to absolute alcohol, the volume of sales of alcoholic beverages increased 3.1 per cent to 218.7 million litres.

The net income for provincial and territorial liquor authorities, when combined with other alcohol-related income such as liquor licences and permits, hit $5 billion in 2006-2007. That's a rise of 5.2 per cent.

The Yukon (+11.6%), Alberta (+10.3%)and Saskatchewan (+9.7%) reported the largest increases.